Casual Racism

Warning: this post can be triggering, but we felt it important to share it exactly as the author intended it to be read.

To celebrate the launch of Adeptales new book ‘I Don’t Mean to Sound Racist But… Examining The Different Faces of Racism’, we are pleased to share an excerpt of the book.

You can purchase a physical copy of ‘I Don’t Mean to Sound Racist But… Examining The Different Faces of Racism’ on adeptales.com or the digital version is available for £5.99 at Amazon, Kobo books or Google Play.

Chapter 6: Casual Racism

Casual racism stems from a negative stereotype about a race or a religion. It can be an off-handed comment or, in some cases, jokes between social groups.

Due to the casual nature of these comments, it can be downplayed as a ‘joke’, or reduced to the realm of ‘not really racist’ – but the impact can be just as harmful as someone being overtly racist.

In some ways, I would argue that it can be more harmful than overt racism because the latter is easy to spot and accept, yet casual or benign racism can keep you quiet in fear of being labelled sensitive or crazy.

Casual racism can also appear in the form of microaggressions. These are not as obvious as racist slurs, so they aren’t as easy to recognise.                 

A typical example of a microaggression in this country would include being told how ‘well-spoken’ you are.

 Although this seems like a compliment, I do not believe that my white counterparts have ever had this said to them in the workplace. 

It hurts to accept that people are genuinely surprised when you are able to articulate a sentence.

I wanted to highlight some of the things that are said to black people on a daily basis. It's crazy that people say these things so brazenly without thinking about the recipient's feelings.

What they don’t understand is that it isn’t the first time the recipient has heard these “jokes” before.

Worryingly, a lot of the same things were said to us.

Brace yourself...                             

Your hair feels like a Brillo pad

Make sure you smile when you’re in the dark, so we know where you are

You’ve caught the sun, haven't you?

The number of times I’ve heard this whenever I came back from a holiday is unprecedented. A number of respondents included this sentiment too when filling out the survey.

You’re pretty... for a black girl

You don’t act black

I’ve also had the latter comment said to me before and I find this really offensive because is there a way in which black people are supposed to act?                                                           

Not all of us behave how we are portrayed on TV or in films. And if we are supposed to act like the people we see on TV, why does no one ever think of Sir Trevor McDonald?

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You can purchase a physical copy of ‘I Don’t Mean to Sound Racist But… Examining The Different Faces of Racism’ on adeptales.com or the digital version is available for £5.99 at Amazon, Kobo books or Google Play.

Words & Image by Adeyemi Oke (@adeptales)